The use of chiral phosphorus compounds for catalytic asymmetric synthesis has grown enormously in the last three decades, such compounds providing many of the most successful ligands for metal-based catalysts (Ojima, 2000; Brunner et al., 1993).
Asymmetric reactions making use of metal catalysts with chiral phosphine ligands include alkene hydrogenations, hydroformylations and hydrosilylations, allylamine isomerisations, allylic substitutions and a number of cross coupling procedures. Some of these processes have gained industrial significance, e.g. Monsanto's L-dopa process (Knowles, 1986); Anic and Monsanto Aspartame process (Kagan, 1988) and Syntex naproxen process (Noyori, 1989). Chiral phosphorus compounds have been found to be useful non-metallic catalysts in their own right (Noyori, 1989).
An important sub-set of chiral phosphorus compounds are those where the chirality lies at the phosphorus atom itself, referred to as P-chiral (or P-stereogenic) compounds. P-chiral compounds have proven to be particularly useful in catalytic asymmetric syntheses (Crépy, K. V. L.; Imamoto, T. Adv. Synth. Catal. 2003, 345, 79-101). An example of such a P-chiral compounds useful in catalytic asymmetric synthesis is shown in the rhodium/diPAMP catalyst, developed by Knowles, which is one of the most successful catalysts used for the L-dopa and Aspartame syntheses.

In light of the potential beneficial properties of P-chiral phosphorus compounds in asymmetric synthesis, there is an ongoing need for further such compounds.